The present invention pertains to athletic footwear, and more particularly pertains to a shoe or boot for kicking a football, soccer ball, or the like, when the intention is to strike the ball solidly with the front end of the foot, as when place kicking a football.
Whether designed for the dual purpose of playing and kicking, or for the singular purpose of kicking, prior football shoes do not possess requisite features of construction that establish and maintain the bones of a kicker's foot in optimal alignment for maximizing kicking distance and accuracy. Design of the present kicking shoe arose from my discovery that placing and holding the kicker's toes in an upwardly flexed position greatly aids in establishing and maintaining the ankle in a "locked" position, while also permitting kicking force to be transmitted to the ball directly from the heads of the metatarsal bones of the foot rather than through the toes. It will be appreciated that the metatarsals are relatively immobile compared to the toes, since the latter are multijointed and can be easily bent of flexed up and down. Accordingly, the front of the kicker's foot should be lifted upward until it extends substantially at a right angle to the lower leg, thereby "locking" the ankle for maintaining the foot at such an angle with the leg when the ball is kicked, and the toes should be flexed sharply upward to (1) prevent unwanted absorption of kicking force by inadvertent bending or flexing of the toes, (2) help place and maintain the ankle in the desired "locked" position, and (3) expose the heads of the metatarsal bones of the foot so that kicking force can be delivered through the heads of the metatarsals.